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Zach Zims and Ryan Bubinski were frustrated at how difficult of a time they were having trying to learn how to code. They wanted to create a system that was more engaging and easier than learning from text books or web tutorials. So they created Codecademy, an online website that allows visitors to learn how to code by actually coding in real time.

Before players can even create an account, the website’s landing page encourages them to begin their journey by coding straight from the start. Only after completing a few short programming exercises, players get to create an account, save their progress, and see what rewards they’ve earned. Through a series of individual interactive courses, players are given enough knowledge to progress in exercises of varying difficulty, while sometimes only given enough information to solve a challenge, as they must draw upon previous exercises to come up with the solution.

As the website grows, Codecademy will take submissions for new courses and challenges.

I really like this idea. The site is polished, the pacing seems good, and it makes good use of achievements as intermediate rewards for going through the lessons.

It’s still pretty limited, but might already help people new to programming go from square one to square…two, or so. I’d be interested to see feedback from people new to programming on whether it worked for them.

What’s missing, and what could be really awesome (if challenging to implement), is guidance on how to fix things when players get the exercises wrong. For example, in the first exercise, if you don’t include a semicolon, the interactive window says "SyntaxError: Unexpected token ILLEGAL". It could say something clearer and friendlier.

6

Rixter

Game Developer |
Total Game Reviews:
5

This is feedback from a programmer:

The prompt to sign up happened too early for me, maybe you should let me finish part three (the first 15 exercises, if I am right) first.

Inputting my name, especially my family name, made me feel uncertain: Do you have any way of storing it? And do you? Maybe you can go for data that is not perceived as being so vital to online security.

However, I really like that game idea and the way that I was able to start playing without even noticing, simply by following the "message box". Only afterwards I clicked on you play button!

I didn’t even know Codecademy was a game. I bumped into it through a message on Twitter.

There was at least one bug that caused trouble to many users (I included) which was widely talked about on the help forum. Hopefully it has been solved.

I didn’t know how to continue a couple of times, and the tips I got weren’t enough for me. I’m not the kind of person that would make a good programer at all, and I have very bad, random memory. I was confused by not having a quick link to related prior steps.

However, it was an awesome experience to get a glimpse at the programming world, and feel like it was something I could actually learn (!). Were it not for the problem I described, I would have continued "playing" much more.

Way to go.

6

Alex

Total Game Reviews:
3

Codeacademy isn’t really a game so much as a tutorial. If you want to teach yourself to write code, I think it will get the job done. I’m looking forward to working the modules that teach you how to put together your own blackjack game. If you like Codeacademy there’s a similar, if not the same, tutorial for graphical, and I think statistical, programming on the Khan Academy site you might want to check out.

8

iZotair

Game Developer |
Total Game Reviews:
1

Wow i love it, its basically having a private tutor teaching you step by step. There are tutorials on YouTube but tutorial online, people attend to forget that we are learning and not experts so by copying every thing and getting what you desire, at the end you in fact didn’t learn anything but by using Codecademy they teach you step by step and tell you the meanings of each and every thing you will have to remember in the future. So far I have not found any cons about this program so I will give it a 8/10

10

hoveychm

Total Game Reviews:
1

Codeacademy is a fun and satisfying way to learn programming. They give you three windows: the lesson on the left, code screen in the middle, and output on the right. The lessons are well written and move at a good pace, allowing you to understand what each piece of the code does. The code screen is also color-coded to identify different operators, and gives you feedback on the left like many coding programs do. The community is also very supportive and the Q&A forums can be sorted by individual lessons, allowing for quick support when you encounter roadblocks. This site is a great place to start learning a wide variety of languages.

10

GlenFalls719

Total Game Reviews:
1

Codecademy is very usefull. If you want to learn how to code quickly and effeciently, this is your website. Pros: Many different levels, different missions, hints
Cons: Still looking for some

10

PvUtrix

Total Game Reviews:
1

Highly recommended!

9

alexd5251

Total Game Reviews:
2

I have never been able to code before, but this made it easy. I was immersed in well written and easy to follow instructions, and I actually had fun. I highly recommend this game, the only downside is that you had to create an account, and I feel like this should be available for anyone to use.

8

GMMiller

Total Game Reviews:
2

I would consider myself a beginner when it comes to coding. I don’t always understand commands and wording with instructionl coding sites. But, Codeacademy was very user-friendly. Instructions were very well stated, the site gave an option for hints so the user would not get too frustrated when stuck, and I really like the fact that there are lots of choice for instructional tutorials. I can see how this would be a very popular tool for students who are self-motivated and interested in learning these skills.